JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
SPARTANS’ CALDWELL EARNS SILVER, MESSNER BRONZE ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE STATE TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
A pair of Garden Spot athletes won medals of the shiny variety Friday on the first day of the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University.
Breana Caldwell had the best day of any of the Lancaster-Lebanon League athletes, striking silver in the Triple-A girls’ long jump with a leap of 18-5 ¾ representing the Spartans.
Caldwell’s teammate, Angie Messner, earned the bronze medal in the Triple-A girls’ high jump with a clear of 5-4.
Caldwell and Messner were the only L-L League athletes to earn top-three finishes on the first day of the State Meet, which concludes Saturday with the other half of the field events, plus all the finals in the track events.
Two other L-L League combatants earned top-10 finishes on Friday – Ephrata’s Katie Ream took seventh in the Triple-A girls’ high jump with a leap of 5-2, and Lancaster Catholic’s Kyle Smith took 10th in the Double-A boys’ javelin with a heave of 175-5.
Seven other L-L League participants finished in the top-22 on Friday, including:
Garden Spot’s Tynesha Faust in the Triple-A girls’ shot put (36-7 ¼; 11th place); Ephrata’s Brynn Lyons in the Triple-A girls’ javelin (119-11; 11th place); Lampeter-Strasburg’s Jenna Witmer in the Triple-A girls’ shot put (34-0 ¾; 16th place); Cedar Crest’s Mark Manno in the Triple-A boys’ discus (143-7; 16th place); Hempfield’s Ty James in the Triple-A boys’ triple jump (43-2 ½; 17th place); Elco’s Kayla Attig in the Double-A girls’ long jump (15-11 ½; 19th place); and Manheim Township’s Ben Stabler in the Triple-A boys’ discus (114-2; 22nd place).
